The Blood War
by You Want To Read It
Summary: Elle loved him from the moment he rescued her; but King was oblivious.
1. Daystar Bust

Chapter One: Daystar Bust

* * *

Several things struck him at once.

The first and most prominent thought he had was that he hurt, no, he _burned_. His neck felt like it was actually on fire. He didn't understand why it felt like that until he gently prodded the area with his fingertips. He had been bitten. That thing had taken a fucking chunk right out of him. Looking down he realized exactly how much blood he was losing by the second. A thick stream of crimson trickled freely down his chest.

He looked up and saw Abby staring at him in horror.

His gaze seemed to snap her out of her stupor. It took her a second, but once she snapped into action. In a split second she had ripped a part of her sleeve off and pressed it against his bite to stop the bleeding.

Hannibal King felt Abby turn his head to the side; he then felt the skin around his wound ripple as though something were moving underneath his skin. Why did his skin do that? Simple, because there was something moving under it and that was the infection.

Abby stared in horror watching his skin dance; she had never seen a bite do that. She knew it had to be something bad.

King could see the fear in his friend's eyes, and that's what really frightened him.

They had tricked him. It had fooled both him and Abby, played them both. They had lured him, and he had gone for it. He had gone for it like a fat kid going for a cupcake. He had followed the lone wounded vampire down the manhole and into the sewers, Abby had followed also. It had been planned that way, it had to of been because there were too many of them down there for it not to have been.

It had happened to fast, too fucking fast. He couldn't process it all right now, he wouldn't.

"So a vampire walks into a bar and asks for a cup of hot water." He was blinking slowly as he began the story.

"Shut up, King." Abby muttered, placing her bow across her back.

"'I thought you only drank blood?' The bartender asks." King continued, wincing as his friend forced him to turn his neck.  
Abby's jaw twitched. Her concern for him mingled with irritation and left a bitter taste on her tongue.  
"Come on." She ordered, grasping his arm. "We need to get you back home."  
"The vampire pulls out a used tampon and says 'I'm making tea'." King continued.  
"That's disgusting." Abby commented, walking with him out of the shadow of the alleyway and into the soft light of early dawn.  
"I thought it was a nice story." King replied.

* * *

"_There are more than seventy thousand people living in the parks, under the freeway off ramps and on the streets of Los Angeles County . Now, however that number seems to be on a steady decline." A redheaded newswoman with a sharp nose said confidently into the camera. "New reports are showing that there are actually far less homeless now than just one year ago, the number used to be much higher, in the eighty thousa--"_  
"It is too fuckin' early for that shit, turn it off Elle.." Ed complained, walking through the living room. He grimaced as his little sister scowled at him from the kitchen. He knew that she knew that the truth was that it was four 0' clock in the afternoon on a Monday, and it surely wasn't morning to anyone other than a vampire hunter.

Elle however, did not mention any of this and turned off the television; coating the remote in a layer of flour by doing so.  
He watched her through sleepy eyes. His little sister, his best friend, his god damn Pollyanna. She was wearing her usual white apron, the one she put on whenever she stepped foot into the kitchen. She was completely dusted with flour, which was normal for whenever she was baking. She hovered over a large ceramic mixing bowl, determinedly focused on what she was doing.  
"Can I get some breakfast?" Ed asked, while sliding into one of the bar stools at the end of the kitchen.

Elle nodded and sat down her wooden spoon before trotting over to the refrigerator.

Ed watched her and felt his lips curl into a small smile, the girl did trot in the morning.

Not morning, Ed corrected himself.

That was inconsequential anyways, morning noon or night Elle was just one of those annoyingly genuinely happy people, and despite his grouchiness through the years she remained the same; unwaveringly dedicated to spreading the sunshine  
He eyeballed the bowl his sister had been busy with, on the inside was a light beige mush he suspected was the makings of muffins.  
"Its Monday, right?" He asked.  
"Yes." She replied happily.  
"Muffins?"  
"Yes."  
Elle began to make her usual pile beside her muffin work space. It was a heap of flour, eggs, milk, bacon, a waffle iron, a loaf of bread, cinnamon, salt, pepper, sugar- she paused, surveying her pile of goods.  
"Is anyone else up?" Ed questioned, snatching the flour coated remote control and dusting it off. He loved his sister, but she was so messy.  
"Rae has been in the basement for a couple of hours." Elle replied while distractedly pawing through a lower cupboard for the right pan.

You didn't sleep, again? Ed wanted to ask, but he didn't bother. He already knew the answer anyways. Just by looking at the dark circles set below her eyes he could tell she hadn't been able to get any rest. Despite this knowledge, he decided to go fishing.

"How did you sleep last night?" He asked, tapping his thumb nail on the counter top.

"Wonderful." Elle lied with such ease about this it was disturbing.

Ed accused her of being a liar, but only in his own thoughts.

What could he do about it if she wouldn't sleep? Nothing.

At least she wasn't a complainer.

* * *

Half way across the city however, there was a complainer to be found and his name was Hannibal King.

"I forgot what a stomp on the balls this injection was!" King complained loudly, only to be ignored.  
"So cure, served up cold, that'll be a hundred." Kevin, a portly man in glasses, chain smoking a Kools light said to Abby. He was their new connection to the cure, and resident honeycomb physician.  
"We haven't got that much." Abby told him.  
"Damn it Abs." Kevin complained.  
"I know, I'm sorry!" She said, rubbing her eyes. Over the past week, she'd become to tired and stressed it was difficult to even see straight anymore.  
"Can't you give us a family discount?" Dex asked, a big hopeful smile on his face.  
"No." Kevin said.  
"Why not? Dude your moms my Aunt!" Dex argued.  
"One, because your horde ganked my alliance last week on Warcraft." Kevin told him, pointing his pinky finger at his cousin. "That's right, I knew it was you… and two." He announced, pointing his ring finger. "Because you still have my Natalie Imbruglia Cd."  
"Dude, I'll return it." His cousin promised.  
"And three!" Kevin continued. "Because that stuff costs about one hundred dollars to make per dosage. The chemicals aren't cheap, the electricity to run the equipment to make it isn't cheap, and the machines certainly aren't cheap!"  
"Look, we'll get you the money." Abby said, diffusing the situation. "I promise." She reassured Kevin when he looked skeptical.  
"I trust you Abs.. I don't trust them though..." Kevin replied, giving both King and Dex a shady look.

Neither of them looked offended in return, hell even they knew they weren't that trustworthy. ,  
"Look, Kevin, we need your help…" She told him, hoping to god he could do her the favor she needed.

* * *

Ed was staring to top of the refrigerator where, he had just noticed, Lucky was seated staring at him intently. The very fluffy three legged cat growled..  
"Fuck you back." Ed replied.  
"Be nice to him." Elle demanded from in front of the stove.  
"He's an asshole." Her brother complained.  
"He is not." She dropped a pad of butter into a large skillet and walked to the fridge. Elle stood on her tip toes to scoop the cat down. Instantly Lucky began to purr heavily, giving Ed a smug look of feline satisfaction. 'Ha ha, she likes me better.' is what the cats eyes seemed to taunt.  
"I hate that cat." Ed stated.  
"Maybe that's why he doesn't like you." Elle replied, setting the cat on the counter top beside the stove.  
"Don't put him up there! He'll get his fur all in the food, and the germs on his feet-"  
"Okay okay.." Elle pacified while complacently placing her cat on the floor..  
A door slammed down the hall.

The kitchen went silent.

Ed looked over his shoulder and saw Rae walking out, covered in sweat, her face blank and impassive to the burn her body must have been feeling after once of her intense work outs.  
"Shower." She stated, pointing to the bathroom. "Food." She said pointing at Elle..  
"Hey, she's my personal chef you know, not yours." Ed protested..  
Elle smacked him on the head with a dish towel playfully as Rae flipped him off.

* * *

"Daystar wasn't as effective as we'd hoped." Abby didn't sugar coat it, she wanted them to know how bad it was. "It killed plenty, yea, just no where near enough."  
"They've moved underground. They've been having orgies in the dark, like a bunch of very horny frat boys." King told them.  
"They have been breeding." Abby explained. "There are hundreds of them, maybe even thousands, right under our feet."  
Dex looked at the ground and paled.  
"In the sewer systems." King snapped, cranky now that the cure was beginning to make his muscles ache.  
"I think they're making an army, they're organized." Abby said solemnly.  
"What do you mean, organized?" Kevin asked.  
"They lured us into the sewers last night." She stated, crossing her arms. "There were so many down there..."  
The all looked at Abby, she was pale and sweaty. There was an extreme irritation bubbling under her surface, they knew better than to ask too many questions at once..  
"So this.. is pretty much all our fault?" Dex asked.  
"More or less." King replied.  
"Alright, so, you need me to give you the hook up with other vampire hunters? So we can do some clean up?"  
"More or less." Abby said, cracking her neck.  
"Okay, cool. I can do that." Kevin said.  
An awkward pause followed.  
"Now?" Abby requested.

* * *

__

Ring.

Elle set the toast she was buttering down onto Rae's plate. Her brother immediately picked it up and took a bite out of it.  
"That wasn't yours." She chided, as though speaking to a small child.  
_Ring.  
_"She's not even out of the shower yet." Ed argued.  
"If you wanted more, all you had to do was ask." She said, reaching for the phone.  
_Ring.  
Click._  
"Hello?" She said into the phone.  
Kevin cleared his throat on the other end of the line. "Hey, yea, I was calling to talk to Ed?"  
"Yea, he's right here. Here you go." Elle replied, placing another slice of toast into the toaster.  
"Thanks."  
Elle handed the phone to Ed, who gave her an irritated look. He hated talking when he was eating.  
"Talk to me." Ed said into the mouthpiece.  
"Hey, its Kevin."  
"Hey…" There was a hesitation in Ed's voice, he was wary of the call.  
"You know, I sold you that thing that one time…" Kevin said in a friendly tone.  
"You sold me lots of pot, I remember." Ed joked, avoiding giving a direct answer. He didn't discuss the cure, or vampirism much in presence of his little sister. "What's going on?"  
"Oh nothing… um, but there is actually a problem…"  
"Dude, don't fuck around the bush." Ed stated. "What's wrong?"  
Elle looked at her brother, concerned. He gave her a small dismissive wave and saw her relax slightly.  
"Okay." Ed said after many moments of silence. "Elle, grab me a pen?" He requested, snapping his fingers impatiently.  
Elle chose to ignore the finger snapping and rummaged through the drawer on the right side of the kitchen sink, within seconds she pulled a blue sharpie pen out and handed it to her brother. She watched with unconstrained curiosity as her brother wrote an address down on his napkin.  
"We'll be there tonight, yea no problem.." He told the man on the phone.  
_Click._  
"What happened?" Elle asked, chewing her lip.  
"We're going on a road trip." Ed said, shoveling some bacon into his mouth and sliding off of his bar stool.  
"By we… you mean?" She asked sheepishly.  
"You're coming too." He called over his shoulder.  
Elle blinked, and felt her stomach tighten. She watched her brother walk down the hall and begin to bank on Rocks' bedroom door.  
"Hey lazy asshole!" He shouted. "Wake the fuck up!!"  
A few moments passed and the door opened.  
Rocks stood, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. He was in nothing but his shorts and socks.  
"What the fuck, man." Rocks complained.  
"We're going on a fieldtrip.." Ed stated happily.  
"Huh, where to? Why? How long? Did Elle make breakfast?"  
"Yes!" Elle shouted sweetly from the kitchen.  
"Elle for the win." Rocks mumbled, walking out of his room.  
"Remember Kevin?" Ed asked Rocks.  
Yes, he remembered Kevin. He remembered the situation in which he'd met Kevin. He glanced down the hallway at Elle who was now piling food onto a large plate for him.  
"Man, I don't remember my own name until I piss, and eat." Rocks replied.

* * *

Dearest loyal, amazing, ambivolent and kind readers,

Thank you for reading! You rock like a boulder.

Kaoz, WWESupernatural102292, Andrew's Slinky, Buffy Sparrow, Lelann37, and Cheezecurlz, you all ROCK! Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoy the newely improved version of 'The Blood War'. Thank you so much for your comments and support, you are wonderful!


	2. Night Pigeons

"Elle." Ed prompted as the group pulled up to the empty dilapidated warehouse.

Elle, who had been chewing on her bottom lip, and nervously clinging to the large square tupperware container in her arms glanced towards her brother.

"Rae, Rocks and I are going to go check it out, Okay? I want you to wait here, get in the driver's seat and keep the car running. If you think anything bad is happening or we are in any kind trouble, I want you to drive away."

Elle continued to chew her lip. She gave her brother no verbal response, only a wide eyed look of apprehension.

"Elle. I'm serious." Ed said sharply. He lacked the patience to reassure her and he wouldn't lie.

"You want me to leave you?" She asked, cracking under his glare.

"Only if you think something bad has happened." Rocks interjected quickly, looking at her in the rear view mirror. He did not want to be stranded miles from home without his car just because Elle heard a rat fart and it scared her.

"How will I know if something bad happened?" Elle questioned.

"There will be lots of screaming." Ed replied quickly.

"I made cheesecake." She told them, as though if by some magic; the presence of cheesecake was supposed to act as protection from danger.

"I'm not screwing around, you leave us and you go back home. You run inside you lock all of the doors and the windows and you stay there until dawn." Ed said.

"Hide under your bed with the garlic salt too." Rocks added, grinning. When he received a particularly harsh look from his friend he rolled his eyes. "Garlic is good for the skin."

"Something's wrong with my skin?" Elle questioned, lifting a hand to her cheek.

"No." Rocks said quickly. "I was just being an ass."

"As usual." Rae muttered from beside Elle.

"You're skin is perfect." Rocks said, turning in his seat and giving her his best smile. He could only hope his words would pacify the teenager as easily as they had upset her.

It worked; he'd repaired the damage he'd done. Elle smiled in a less self conscious way and he found himself staring at her. For the first time in six years he'd realized she was growing up. Though she hadn't fully matured, it was now painfully obvious she was no longer the frightened child he had helped rescue, at least not on the outside.

"Quit complimenting my sister, it's weird." Ed snapped, tearing his friend out of his stupor.

Rocks replied with a simple indignant snort.

"Is everyone ready?" Ed asked.

"Sure am." Rocks stated, turning forward in his seat once more. His eyes found their way to Elle's reflection in the rear view mirror however. "Rae, you ready Ninja girl?"

She nodded assertively.

"Okay, let's do this, Elle get in the driver's seat." Ed ordered, exiting the old black Plymouth barracuda and moving his seat forward so Rae could get out.

Rocks did the same for Elle, though she stumbled. He managed to catch her before she ate pavement and then nudged her into the driver's seat. She pulled her door shut as her brothers head popped in through the passenger's side.

"Keep the doors locked." Ed told her, pressing the lock down on his door before closing it.

"Shouldn't we crack a window for her or something?" Rocks joked while stretching.

"She'll be fine." Ed stated.

Rocks knocked on the driver's window, and gave Elle an assuring grin and a wink.

She smiled back nervously.

He walked around the back of the car and stood, shoulder to shoulder with Rae and Ed.

Behind them, Elle's face was now pressed against the passenger's window glass, watching with wide eyed wonder. This was the first time they had ever brought her along with them. She often spent her nights watching infomercials, baking, waiting for them to come home. Now she was in the action, or as close to it as she believed she would ever come in her life.

"She's staring at us." Rae stated without looking over her shoulder. The small woman sounded as highly irritated as she was. Elle belonged at home, she wasn't a fighter. In Rae's opinion the girl was a house pet.

"She's excited." Rocks defended. "This is the first time she's been out with us in…"

"Ever." Ed finished, walking towards the warehouse.

Soon Rocks fell in step with him as Rae separated herself from them.

"Think this is actually on the up and up?" Rocks asked casually.

"Let's hope so or we'll be up fucked creek without a ride home." Ed answered, leading the way towards the warehouse.

"What do these guys call themselves again? The night pigeons…the night walkers?" Rocks joked.

"Nightstalkers." King informed them, stepping out from behind an old dumpster.

Rocks stared at the gun aimed directly at his forehead.

"See, this is why _we should have guns_!" Rocks complained loudly, giving Ed a sideways glance. His expression of great concern changed to that of arrogance when he saw a small glimmer of silver from behind the man pointing a .44 at his skull.

"Too loud." Rae whispered. Her long silver katana emerging from the shadows as she placed it at the base of Kings throat.

Everyone was silent, uncomfortable, confused.

"Who are you?" Ed asked, squinting at King.

"Who are you?" Abby retorted, rounding the corner of the warehouse, aiming her bow directly at Rae's head.

"Who are _you_?" Rocks, asked glaring at Abby.

"I am Hannibal King," King said, feeling the cold metal of Rae's katana inching closer to his skin. "and I am currently considering change of carrier, I hear 'The Burger Drive' is hiring, and though I am very good in roller skates I'm afraid the short shorts would be a little tight in the crotch."

"He must be mentally retarded." Rae commented, pulling her katana away from King's throat and stepping away from him.

"Actually, no." King told Rae while holstering his gun.

Abby lowered her bow, another dangerous situation defused by King's mouth. She knew he got lucky, but one day that mouth of his was going to get them killed. She glared in his direction.

"I'm Ed…" Ed said in a very serious manner. "I don't like strawberry flavored ice cream."

"It's not for everyone." King said, rubbing his neck.

"Abigail Whistler." Abby introduced herself, putting the arrow she held back into the quiver on her back.

"Rocks, and I'm a Scorpio." He said, pointing to himself, then to Rae. "And that's our ninja, Rae Ryuto."

"We don't have a ninja." King whispered, looking at Abby.

A door from the side of the warehouse opened and Kevin stepped out, lighting a cigarette.

"Oh hey, you guys made it." He greeted, walking towards the group.

"Yea, we made it." Ed said cheerfully.

* * *

Elle was sitting in the driver's seat of the old 1968 barracuda, her knee's pulled tightly to her chest, her cheesecake in the passenger's seat. She ran her fingertips over the many small scars encircling her neck. The rough little reminders of the time she had spent feeling terrified, guilty, and unclean.

Elle was snapped out of her thoughts when the light taste of copper hit her tongue. She had been chewing on her bottom lip again and a little to zealously. She sat up straight and looked at herself in the rear view mirror. Her lips were swollen and red. Bee stung, attractively so in a macabre sort of way. She looked her neon glow in the dark watch; the time read 10:24 pm...

She would inhale, exhale, and continue to wait.

They could have at least cracked a window.

* * *

"Where were you man, you're supposed to be out here keeping people from pointing guns at me." Rocks complained, setting his beer down on the table before him.

There they were nightstalkers and the unnamed vampire hunters, sitting around the table, drinking beers as if they hadn't just nearly killed one another.

"Oh yea, sorry about that but I had Indian food like three hours ago and I've been on the john since." Kevin told them. "I'm telling you, I straight up disrespected that toilet."

"Indian food." King agreed.

"Where's your cousin, man?" Rocks asked.

"Oh, Dex? fuck I don't know, in there lookin at dude porn or something."

"I don't look at dude porn." Dex whined, walking into the room. "I like the ladies."

"Sure you do, man." Rocks said with a wink.

"He loves the schlong." Kevin muttered, taking a drag off of his cigarette.

"When did you turn into such a chain smoker?" Ed asked.

"When I realized how totally fucked we are." He replied.

"How fucked are we?" Rocks asked, leaning back in his seat.

"I think I should have another beer." Ed stated, getting up and walking to the fridge.

"Kevin, can I talk to you a minute?" Abby asked suddenly..

"Sure thing Abs." Kevin looked at her, tapped her cigarette on the ashtray beside his left hand and stood.

Abby stood and walked out of the room, Kevin trailed behind her.

"Are the two of you together?" Ed asked King, pointing towards the direction Abby and Kevin had gone.

"No." King said, "He is a tease."

* * *

"This is all of them?" Abby asked, "That's only three people in there."

"Yea, but, lil bit in there." He said, jerking his cigarette towards the room they had just left. "She's like a…"

"A ninja?" Abby questioned, unimpressed.

"Exactly!" He said, snapping his fingers. "You should see her fight she could kick Blades ass… if you see him though, don't tell him I said that."

"Three people against thousands of vampires, Kev?"

"Look, the only people I know who are in this very disturbing business are the people I've sold the cure to." He admitted. "I am not that popular Abs."

Abby sighed.

* * *

"I'll try and get more, but I'm telling you if Mr. happy go shoot in there keeps pointing guns at them, they aint gonna help. Not to mention, a lot of them.. not that interested in getting killed." Kevin told her.

Elle was still curled up, her knees pulled up against her chest and her head tilted back towards the ceiling of the barracuda.

The rain was falling hard now, thunder boomed, lightning licked the sky.

"Blade isn't here?" Rae asked, the first words she'd spoken since accusing King of suffering from retardation.

"Yea, no." King said. "We lost chocolate thunder..."

"He's gone." Dex stated.

"Wait, is this the vampire dude that can be in sunlight?" Rocks questioned.

"Yea." Ed answered. "So he did go AWOL?"

"That's why we need you." Abby informed them, stepping back into the room. "One year ago, we released daystar, a biological weapon we had hoped would be able to kill vampires, hundreds of them at once. We killed a lot with the first release of the virus, but we pissed off a whole lot more. Since then, king and I have been going out at night, killing what we can. I'm sure you all have noticed lately there have been less of them?"

"Yea." Ed admitted. "Don't tell me it's not because we've been doing such a good."

"It's because they are under us, they've moved into the sewer systems." King told them, "Something got them scared, There are hundreds down there, easy."

"Fuck you." Rocks said in disbelief.

"Thank you for the offer, but you aren't my type." King told him.

"It's true, we saw it." Abby confirmed. "We were out, we saw one, but he ran, he lead down a manhole. Once we were down there, we realized it had been a trap."

* * *


	3. Elle Loves King

Chapter Three: Elle Loves King.

* * *

Elle stared at her watch; her watch stared back.

12:02 am.

If she was going to leave, it would have to be right now. She could turn the key, start the engine, put the car in drive and haul ass home, or at the very least to the nearest tanning salon. That however, just wasn't Elle. Instead of abandoning her brother and friends she chose to pick up her cheesecake and go look for them. She pulled the keys from the ignition and swung open the door of the car.

Her large brown eyes searched the darkness around her as she stepped into the rain. The large icy drops of water assaulted her mercilessly. Within a few seconds she was completely drenched.

Ed said 'wait in the car'; Ed said 'if you think something bad happened leave'. Elle hesitated one half second before she slammed the car door shut. Ed used to eat play dough.

Thunder growled in the distance. All of the small hairs on her body stood up, something she tried to brush off a cold shiver.. Unfortunately she couldn't brush off the feeling of being watched quite as easily.

Ten feet behind the car, the one and only lamp post she could see, flickered. Elle frowned, she was just lucky that way.

Rain continued to come down in cold hard sheets. Each droplet was like a miniature icicle piercing what skin she had exposed to the elements. As a reaction, she pulled her sweater arms down over her fists, carefully so the desert she had made wouldn't slip from her grasp.

Elle never turned back to see the dark figure now standing beneath the lamp post.

She felt goose bumps form on her skin and shivered. Suddenly wishing she hadn't left the car, contemplating perhaps turning and running back into the vehicle.

Elle told herself she could do this, she could walk alone towards an abandoned warehouse, potential nest for vampires. She could do this, it wasn't that big of a deal, she would find her brother and Rocks up ahead, standing in the rain, complaining about how these 'Nightstalker farts hadn't even shown up'. Or…. she would find them lying lifelessly on the concrete, their necks torn open.

She clamped her eyes shut tightly, pushing that god awful image out of her mind.

"Ed?" Her voice was shaky and barely more than a whisper. Slowly she forced her eyes open, she began searching. "Rocks, Rae?"

Her eyes swept the unpleasant darkness around her, trying to pick out any sign that Ed was near by.

When a sinister boom of thunder possessed the sky above her, she jumped and stumbled.

"Damn it! Ed!? "She called despondently. Her voice echoed through darkness and a shiver went down her spine.

"Hey …" A man's voice, dry and raspy called from behind her.

Elle froze, that wasn't the voice of her brother, or Rocks, or anyone she knew.

She didn't look over her shoulder, she didn't pause, and she didn't pass go to collect two hundred dollars, all she did was run.

She heard two pairs of feet pounding at the ground, one hers, and one someone else's.

"Hey, I'm talking to you." He shouted. "I've seen you before! I know you!"

The overwhelming scent of rancid unwashed human hit her nostrils, it was sickening.

A hand grabbed the back of her sweater.

The scream ripped through the sounds of the storm like a knife. It overrode the bashing of rain on the roof; it cancelled out the distant sound of thunder.

King, who had been leaning against the wall, stood at full attention and charged for the door.

Ed shot up from his seat at the table and like lighting shot out the door after King.

"Fuck." Rocks cursed loudly, following after them both.

* * *

Elle was pinned to the ground, the side of her face forced into the concrete. She was screaming, and struggling against the man on top of her.

"Let me look at you! I know you! "The man screamed, spit dripping from his mouth. His disheveled cloths, the foul strength of his body odor, beneath it all Elle cringed, and screamed.

Lightning slapped the sky, it all happened during the flash.

The green door on the outside of the honeycomb hideout burst open, King was the first to come out, gun drawn. He ran to Elle and grabbed the man by the back of the neck and ripped him off of her.

Ed ran to his sister and dropped himself down beside her. He scooped her up off of the cement and pulled her to him. It was a brisk primal action, like that of a lioness snatching a cub up by the nape of its neck.

King had pressed one of his guns against the side of the mans skull before he could push himself off of the ground.

"Don't shoot him!" Elle shrieked. "Don't shoot him!"

King have her a sideways glance, the man had been attacking her and she was trying to protect him? His features contorted into a curious glare when he turned his attention back to the man.

"You okay?" Ed asked, frantically brushing his sister's long hair out of her face and forcing her to look at him. "Elle, talk to me. Are you okay?"

"He's not one of them." Elle pleaded her voice cracking. A glistening mixture of tears and rain steamed down her cheeks. Her wild eyes searched her brothers for understanding. She forced herself to speak calmly now. " He's not a vampire."

"Calm down." Ed said in a deliberately pacifying manor. "Shhh. Just calm down."

Elle hiccupped, wiping the salty water away from her face.

"Don't shoot me, don't shoot me, dontshootme." The man was muttering over and over again.

King clenched his jaw aggressively. "May I suggest you either give me a really good reason not to shoot you right now, or you fuck off and never fuck back?" He said.

The man nodded frantically. "I'll fuck off, I'll go. I'll go."

King stepped back, watching as the man scrambled to stand and then ran across the pavement as fast as his feet could take him. He turned and placed his gun back in its holster.

"Silly tweekers." He said, turning to look at Elle. His features, previously scrunched up in an intense scowl had loosened into a weak smile.

His smile fell when he laid eyes on the small young woman shuddering in her brother's arms though. Her long dark hair clung to her pale face and light pink dress, she seemed frail, breakable. After years with Danica, evil incarnate, and then a few more with Abby unbreakably resilient Abby, he had forgotten woman could be fragile. With her large dark eyes and small trembling figure she brought to his mind an image of a half drown Chihuahua.

She was but a deer in headlights. Elle stared at King, frozen by his gaze. He was every fantasy she had ever had since puberty, from every harlequin romance she'd ever read in the past six years. Rain pearled up in his choppy brown beard and glistened at her. His shirt clung to his broad chest, giving her a exhibit of his muscles.

The expression on his face made her turn her head down though; she did not want him to look at her with so much pity.

"Jesus Christ, man!" Rocks exclaimed, trudging towards Elle he offered her a hand to help her up.

"I got her." Ed said sharply, hoisting his sister up before she could reach out to Rocks.

"What kind of fuckin people do you have around here?" Rocks demanded as the group moved into the honey-comb hideout.

"There are the occasional habitual drug users, in the area." Abby admitted, crossing her arms. "This is the first time anything like this has ever happened."

"Fuck, Elle." Ed gasped, grabbing his sister's palm and examining it.

"It's okay." She whispered, pulling back her freshly scraped up hand.

Both of her palms were raw bloody from their rough contact with the concrete outside. Her knees were scraped as well and her dress was torn.

"Ouch. Come on, let's… disinfect those." Kevin told her attempting to user her into the warehouse.

"It's okay." Ed reassured her when she looked hesitant.

"Get the cheesecake." She replied softly. "It's still outside."

* * *

Elle sat under the harsh fluorescent lighting of the honeycomb hideouts makeshift sick bay. She still looked very much like a freshly traumatized half drowned puppy. Half of her discomfort came from being surrounded by very cold, very wet, very serious men… and King.

"Remember, crack is wack." King told her jokingly,

It was that easy, Elle was officially twitterpated.. The little twinkle in his eyes drove her wild. No one had ever looked at her like that, much less a handsome man. A handsome man who ran out into a rain storm and saved her. She was hooked from the moment he started paying attention to her; a typical reaction of a girl who rarely got attention from the opposite sex.

Ed glared at King from the doorway. He was watching over his sister as Kevin cleaned the scrapes on her palms and knees. He was also watching how his sister watched King.

"Ouch." Elle hissed

Ed now glared at the man touching his sister. Kevin had begun to apply a cream onto the palms of her hands.

"Sorry." Kevin told her.

"Thank you." Elle said softly, still fixated on King.

"Anytime." He told her, winking.

"This is my sister, by the way." Ed said, rubbing his face.

"This is her?" Kevin blurted, furrowing his eyebrows. He stared at Elle for a moment, his curiosity showing on his face. She furrowed her eyebrows, why was that man looking at her like a laboratory mouse?

"Yea." Ed stated. The irritated tone of his voice caused Kevin to look at his medical supplies once more.

"And her name is?" King asked.

"Elle." Elle said softly.

"Like the letter." King said.

"Yea." She confirmed, smiling.

* * *

Rocks, Abby, Rae and Dex stood in the kitchen together. Drinking.

"I cannot believe we forgot she was out there." Rocks stated, finishing off his beer. "Did you forget she was out there?" He asked Rae.

Rae wanted to tell him she hadn't noticed Elle was in the car with them on the drive over, but she knew it would have been a pointless bitchy statement. So, instead she pulled her switchblade from her pocket and used it to open up another beer for Rocks.

"How many knives do you carry around?" Rocks asked in amazement.

"Fifteen." Rae replied.

Rocks immediately lifted his fresh beer to his mouth and chugging the entire thing down. When he lowered the bottle, he wiped his mouth and rapped his knuckles on the counter top. "I'm going to go check on them."

"Med rooms last door on the left." Abby told him, motioning towards the hall.

Rocks nodded and walked out.

"If you didn't frighten me so much, I'd want to have sex with you." Dex informed Rae. He then gave Abby a sideways glance. "You too."

"How do you manage to conceal fifteen knives?" Abby questioned, ignoring the half drunken Dex.

"All done." Kevin said, securing the bandages on her hands with small metal clips.

"Thank you." She said sweetly, this time to Kevin.

"It's what I'm here for." He told her.

"Hey, you doing alright man?" Rocks asked as he joined Ed in the doorway.

"I am fine." Elle replied. She then stood and crossed the room to her brother.

"You left me in the car!' Elle snapped accusingly and kicked him in the shin.

"Shit, Elle!" Ed barked, cringing as he bent to baby his fresh injury.

It was an unexpected outburst from the previously quiet and sweet girl.

"Fuck, we forgot you were out there, man." Rocks confessed, and when Elle turned an angry eye on him he held up his hands in defense while stepping away from her. "Don't kick me."

"I told you to _stay _in the car." Ed pressed, suddenly realizing he should be the one angry with her. She had disobeyed a direct direction! "Until we came to get you- OW, stop kicking me…" Ed grumbled, finally taking a bit of direction from rocks and backing off.

* * *

Author Note: Hope you enjoyed it, promise to update soon, anyone want to be my Beta reader?


	4. Little Hearts

"Fuck, we forgot you were out there, man." Rocks told Elle.

This fleeting attempt to defend his friend backfired on him big-time.

Elle turned her gold flecked eyes towards him, they narrowed.

As soon as she had turned her focus to him, Rocks felt guilt dive into his stomach.

"Don't kick me." He said in his best peace making tone while he backed away from the young woman glaring at him. Her angry eyes made him want to look away, but he didn't dare. Instead he stood before her, drawing his shoulders upward, preparing himself for an assault.

"I told you to _stay _in the car." Ed barked.

Rocks closed his eyes. It was almost painful knowing how much worse Ed had just made things for himself. Ed seemed to of realized it too because his tone changed slightly, he made an attempt to do a quick verbal U-turn.

"…Until we came to get you- OW, stop kicking me!"

Backtracking never worked much with Elle.

Rocks gave his friend a sympathetic look, all the while thinking 'better you than me, man'.

Ed glared, and backed away as Rocks had.

Elle stared at her brother for a few moments, frustrated and not breathing. Finally after several seconds her breath came out in one short puff, it blew a wet string of hair out of her eyes. Slowly she took a couple steps backward until she was standing next to King. Her eyes drifted towards the tall man beside her and she suddenly looked embarrassed.

Rocks' eyebrows twitched upward, was Elle blushing?

"_Why_ did you leave her in the car?" Kevin asked suddenly, swiveling on his stool towards Ed. The portly man looked thoroughly confused as get began to light a fresh cigarette.

"So she wouldn't get hurt." Ed responded bitterly.

"Well, that plan worked out well." King's voice was laced with open sarcasm. He tilted his head to the side slightly towards Elle.

The look that Ed gave King could have neutered a dog.

"If she had stayed in the car, it _would _have." Ed stated.

"Unless the dude, you know, smashed through the windshield and then tried to strangle her to death, man." Rocks said, moving his hands around as though acting out the entire horrific scene. He immediately regretted having his hands held up in front of himself as though strangling someone when he saw Elle's reaction.

Her soft eyes had widened and her lips hung open ever so slightly. It was an expression of absolute alarm.

One thing ran through Rocks' mind and that one thing was that he was a stupid dick-face.

"Stop traumatizing her." Ed warned, smacking his friend in the arm.

Rocks ran his hand through his short brown hair. His chocolate eyes flickered between Elle and Ed, who stood on opposite sides of the medical room. He held up his other hand in silent surrender.

"It's not his fault." Elle defended, shifting her weight from one foot to another.

"No, it's yours." Ed said quickly. "You got out of the car."

Rocks sighed, these two would still be arguing about this in thirty years.

Ed glared at Elle.

Elle looked the other way silently.

Ed scowled and rapped his knuckles aggressively on the counter.

Rocks watched them carefully from where he stood as did King and Kevin. He had an advantage over the other two men however, because Rocks knew how the fight would play out, he'd seen far too many of them in the past not to.

Elle would have a small outburst on occasion, much like that of a five year olds. She'd kick her brother or smack him in the head with a grapefruit from a great distance when she was furious with him before running off.

Rocks was grateful Elle's child like tantrums were reserved exclusively for her brother. Sometimes however he would have preferred the kicking to the silent treatment he was currently receiving. Though he was a man who not fond of physical pain reasonably would not try to mess with the balance of things.

Ed was the kind to make the first truly aggressive move. He would be the one who would turn things around so he looked right and she looked wrong, no matter the nature of the disagreement.

Elle had the perfect counter attack though, because it wasn't an attack at all, it was a simple non communicative punishment. She just wouldn't speak to people who truly upset her, she would not go as far to ignore their existence. She would still cook them breakfast and pack them lunches, she would do something if someone asked, but she just would not speak to them until she had forgiven them. It wouldn't have been as bad if she was silent for only an hour or so, but that was not the case. The girl was stubborn and would go days without saying a word. It made both Ed and Rocks furious when she did so.

In Rocks' mind few things more sense than the relationships between brothers and sisters…other than the relationship between cats and dogs. Still… he knew how to diffuse the situation.

"Elle?" Rocks asked. "Sorry we forgot you…"

Elle tilted her head towards him slightly.

Rock's gave her an expression which made him resemble a guilty puppy who had just piddled on the carpet. Elle could never stay made at him when he made that expression.

He stuck his hands in the pockets of his jeans and lifted his shoulders into a shrug as if to say '_go ahead, smack me with the newspaper, I deserve it_.'

"It's okay." Elle responded softly, a forgiving pout on her lips. Now she focused her attention on the rip in her dress; her fingertips encircled the tear in the fabric. Through the hole in the wet cloth he could see small patch of her pale thigh.

Rocks swallowed, looked away, and then back and found himself staring at her calves, then at her bandaged knees. His gaze traveled upward more to where her hands lifted her skirt just a few inches above her thigh so she could toy with the cloth.

"What are you doing?" King asked suddenly.

Rock's head snapped to the man beside Elle and for a moment he was sure someone was going to shank him in defense of Elle's honor. Quickly however he noticed everyone's eyes were not on him, instead they focused on a new face.

"What's going on?" Asked the small girl, no older than eleven was standing behind Rocks in the doorways had asked

"Grown up stuff." Kevin said, putting his cigarette out on the bottom of his sneaker.

Rocks scratched at the heat on the back of his neck and looked down. He felt like an absolute pervert suddenly for gawking at his friend's sister. He needed to get laid, and _soon _otherwise no woman would be safe from his eyes, even Elle, but when had she become a woman again?

"Shouldn't you be sleeping kiddo?" King asked.

"Shouldn't you be killing vampires?" The girl responded in a cranky tone. She rubbed the sleep from her eyes and then stared up at Rocks.

"This is Zoe, she's cranky when she wakes up." King informed everyone. "And when you drink her last juice box."

"Who was screaming?" Zoe demanded, still staring at Rocks.

"Me." Elle said, stepping forward sheepishly.

"Are you okay?" The girl inquired, turning her attention to Elle. She padded barefoot into the room.

Elle nodded.

"Was it a vampire?"

Elle shook her head no.

"Okay." The girl said, seeming momentarily satisfied. She then looked up her nose at the older girl, an air of authority about her. "Who are you?"

"I'm Elle. That's my big brother…Ed."

Rocks couldn't help but smirk, it seemed as though Elle had found a new friend, someone on her level.

"I thought I heard you." Abby said from behind Zoe.

"Busted." King sang.

"Damn it." Zoe muttered.

"No swearing." Abby said. "You need to go back to bed."

"Why? You're all up." The child asked.

"I'm tired though." Elle said, rubbing her knee.

"Me too, and if you don't get in your bed I'll go get in it." King stated, lifting his eyebrows in utmost sincerity. "And I have to fart."

Silently Elle took a sideways step away from King, she hoped no one noticed this. King did, and he smirked.

"Ugh." Zoe seemed to cringe at the thought of her bed smelling like King's farts for a few weeks. "I'll go…" She pushed herself off of the couch and padded across the room and down the hall, Abby joined her. "Why does his farts stink _so bad_?"

"So deaf people can enjoy them too." King called to Zoe.

Elle just couldn't help it, she grinned up at the large scruffy man beside her.

An alarm went off in Ed's head. His eyes flickered from King to Elle, from Elle back to King. His nostrils flared slightly, his shoulders squared. He could practically see little hearts floating up around Elle's head as she gazed at King with utmost adoration.

"We need to go." He announced suddenly, crossing the room and grabbing his sister's elbow gruffly.

"Really?" Kevin asked, he seemed disappointed.

"Yes." Ed replied shortly.

"What about saving the world?" Rocks asked.

"What?" Elle squeaked.

"Another night." Ed stated.


	5. Ring Ring

Rae cut off the water. Hot droplets of water rolled down her small shoulders as she stepped out of the shower. Her whole body, which had been so relaxed, suddenly tensed. An annoyance crept up from the depth of her soul as she came face to face with a half asleep Rock's.

He was standing in front of the toilet enjoying an early morning number one. He hadn't even turned his head towards her. The sight of him in his nirvana t-shirt, red flannel boxers around his ankles, eyes closed and sighing as he stained the toilet water yellow.

Rae could have screamed, she could have shouted and cussed him out. Then again, verbal assault wasn't nearly as enjoyable as physical assault

.As she walked past him to grab a towel, she smacked him in the side of the head as hard as she could.

"AHH! FUCK!?" Rock's scream could be heard throughout the house.

Ed turned from his seat at the kitchen counter and lifted his eyebrow in curiosity, watching the empty hallway.

Elle jumped, startled, gulped and went back to flipping pancakes.

In a matter of seconds, Rock's was shoved out into the hallway. He stumbled over the boxers around his feet and fell bare assed onto the hard wood floor.

The bathroom door slammed shut.

"The fuck, man!?" Rocks shouted, clambering to stand and pull up his shorts.

Ed was laughing.

Elle pulled the skillet off of the stove to plate the pancakes. She turned to see the ruckus and froze. Her cheeks turned crimson as she saw a glimpse of Rock's exposed bottom.

"She!" He cried, pointing accusingly at the bathroom door. "She! Is!" His anger subsided, he looked confused, groggy. He threw his hands up into the air. "I was _just _trying to take a piss, man."

"I told you not to go in there while she was showering." Ed needled.

"Fuck you." Rocks grumbled.

* * *

"You can take my place if you want?" King offered. "If you want to get up close and personal with some vampires for a change?"

"Yea, I don't really feel comfortable with that. You can do it." Dex replied smoothly. "I'll stay here and watch some spongebob with the Zoemizer."

"Make sure she does chapter seven in her math book." Abby said. She slid her bow onto her back and looked at Dex with a hard expression. "She's having trouble with long division, and her room is filthy-"

"Yea, yea, don't tell me how to raise the child." Dex countered. "I know how to take care of the kid. We have some arts and craft projects set up."

"I don't want her helping you with the explosives anymore." Abby stated.

"She has such an inventive mind, she's the one who thought of the silver spike ball thing with the twirling blade on it that-- Fine! Okay, chill. Enough with the death glare, I wont let her play with the weapons." Dex stepped out of the room.

"You know, that spinning spike ball is pretty fucking cool." King commented.

"Shut up King." Abby sighed.

* * *

Elle plated the pancakes and placed a plate in front of her brother and Rock's.

Rock's took a seat and scratched his nuts, his lovely contribution to the gang's breakfast.

Elle picked up Lucky, who was purring and winding himself around her ankles. She stared at the two men with wide, cautious eyes. They didn't notice, they were too busy stuffing their faces.

A bit of maple syrup stuck to Rock's chin.

"So…" She began softly, scratching at her cat's head. The cat purred lovingly "The world needs saving?"

Ed looked up from his breakfast, mid bite.

Rocks eye's shifted from his friend to Elle.

"No." Ed replied.

"Liar." Elle countered.

Ed scowled and returned to his meal.

"It's nothing you need to worry about." Ed told his sister, cutting his pancake a bit more aggressively than usual.

"Yes it is." She said, rolling the cat over in her arms so she could cradle him like a baby and rub his chest.

"No it isn't." Ed said firmly.

"Just tell me what's going on."

"Can't."

"Why not?"

"Because I'm not even sure what's going on yet!" He snapped, dropping his fork on his plate with a loud clank. "So how about you just cut this twenty questions shit?!"

Elle's chin dropped as she was scolded. She sulked out of the kitchen.

Ed felt a sudden wave of guild hit him

"Harsh." Rock's said, eyeing his buddy.

Elle walked down the hallway, past Rae as emerged from the bathroom.

"Breakfast?" Rae asked, toweling her hair.

"On the counter." Elle replied cheerlessly.

Rae gave the younger woman a second, considering glance before marching into the kitchen to eat.

Elle walked to the window at the end of the hall and nuzzled her chin into Lucky's warm fur. She watched as the sun began to dip behind the other houses on the cul-de-sac.

* * *

Outside of the Honeycomb Hideout, the warehouse, dark figures were slinking from shadows. Long pale fingers twitched erratically in moonlight. Cloudy eyes blinked. More than fifty, maybe seventy deformed body's moved slowly forward.

A soft, almost inaudible scratch on the side of the warehouse.

"Shut up." Abby snapped, holding up her hand. Her body has tensed, her eyes narrowed. "Did you hear that?"

Abby looked out into the hall and suddenly had an edgy gut felling.

King was confused and Abby left the room

Zoe suddenly screamed, a blood curdling cry of terror.

"KING!" Abby bellowed.

King ran out and looked around. The sound of windows breaking. Malformed, gaunt body's began to flood the warehouse. They weren't healthy vampires, they weren't fed well. They were starving and slow, twitchy.

Abby had gathered Zoe in her arms, her pistol aimed at the approaching monster. She fired. The shot rang out, the vampires suddenly moved at a starling pace. They rushed around, breaking whatever they could get their hands on. They weren't so much trying to kill the group as obliterate their home.

Dex ran through, pulling Zoe from Abby.

Abby's arms were free, she loaded her bow and started shooting. Body's exploded into dust.

King was on autopilot, he began circling Dex and Zoe in a protective circle. Shooting whichever creature dare lunge forward next.

From down the hall Kevin's shotgun rang out, he was blasting his way through to them.

Sweat gathered on Abby's neck. Panic began to build in her, they were outnumbered. Something was off, like the vampires in the sewers, these we not as vampire like as they were rabid animals.

"Something's wrong with them…" Abby announced, firing another bow.

* * *

"Roast beef sandwiches, sweet potatoes sticks and apple juice." Elle announced, placing a large paper bag into Rock's hands.

"Apple juice?" He asked, quirking an eyebrow.

"It's good for you." She smiled sheepishly, turned and walked past Ed without so much as looking at him.

The group was dressed in their street cloths, silver stakes concealed tastefully. Rae was the only one who didn't seem to care about looking incognito, her sword hung from her belt tactlessly.

Elle sat on the couch in her white cotton nightshirt and tube socks, watching them longingly. Like the little kid that could never play with the big kids.

Ed looked to his sister.

"Lock the door after we leave, call-"

"Call you if something wrong. Remember to keep the lights on and don't let anyone inside." Elle finished, crossing her arms.

"Be safe." Ed told her, pulling the door open.

"Be careful." Elle replied.

The three vampire hunters stepped out and closed the door behind them.

Elle picked up the remote and turned the TV on.

The door opened suddenly. Ed stuck his head inside.

"Lock the door." He stated firmly before shutting the door again.

Elle got up and did as she was told.

Moments later she heard them pull out of the driveway.

* * *

Kevin was blasting a path through the creatures, muttering out curse words and complaining about how disrespectful these vampire assholes were.

They had formed a circle, Dex and Zoe in the middle. Kevin leading the front, Abby watching the sides of the group and King bring up the rear as they moved in complete unison towards the garage.

* * *

She was making a cheesecake to replace the one she had so tragically lost the night before.

"Okay the it's out of the oven!" Elle announced happily into the seemingly empty apartment. "Lucky?"

She made a small purring sound and walked into the living room, where the large orange and white, three legged wonder cat lay on his back on the sofa. "You want to see it? Huh?"

In response, lucky only flapped his tale a bit and stared at her. When she bent to scoop him up, however he began to purr loudly.

"Cheesecake is just a custard, really. It's delicate, so you want to bake it slowly and evenly without browning the top." Elle explained to the large cat as she placed him onto the counter top, so he could survey her work.

The cheesecake, sat on top of the stove proudly.

"It'll have to sit there to cool for awhile and I don't want you getting into it." She told the cat, scratching him behind the ears. "Then I'll put it in the fridge and it should be ready for tomorrow night."

Lucky stared at her lovingly. He rubbed his head against her wrist.

Elle listened to the sound of her cat put and sighed. Social retardation, mixed with a genuine fear of human contact, a brother and posse who kill vampires and refuse to let you go out after sundown had really put a damper on her potential group activities.

"I really need some human friends…" She admitted, walking to the pantry. "But they aren't as easy to make." She continued, muttering to herself as she retrieved a can of tuna. "Can't bribe them with the chicken of the sea."

The phone rang.

Elle froze.

The phone rang again.

Elle sat the can of tuna, unopened next to Lucky. Who mewed in protest, and licked the top of the tin can.

The phone rang a third time.

Elle picked up the receiver.

"Hello?"

"Hey, its Kevin. I patched you up the other night?"

"Oh, Hello." She paused awkwardly. "How.. Are you?"

"Not so fuckin' great. Is Ed there?"

"He can't come to the phone right now." That was what Elle had been trained to say incase anyone called. Ed never wanted her to let people know she was home alone.

Kevin started talking, and he couldn't stop. Elle was horrified but she listened. She couldn't do much else as he told her about the attack, about the destruction of the warehouse, of how they managed to get out barely. Elle slowly sank to the kitchen floor. Her bare knee's rested on cold tile, he told her how many there were.

"Come here." She said after a long moment. "Come over here, you can all stay here."


	6. Cleaning Chemicals

As Ed stared down into the barrel of the gun aimed at his head. He realized, somewhere, somehow, his night had taken a crazy turn. After all, wasn't he supposed to be the vampire hunter? Wasn't he the one the dangerous people in the dark were supposed to fear?

"I said, give me your money!" the grubby looking man demanded waving the gun at his nose.

"Yea, I heard you the first time." Ed replied, calmly annoyed. He up at the fire escape above them. Rae had emerged from the shadows. She threw a lean leg over the iron railing of the fire escape.

"Look here guy….." the man ground out impatiently.

"Are you afraid of Ninja's?" Ed interrupted, looking amused.

"God damn it!" The man cried, waving his gun in crazed irritation. "Look! You fucking fruitcake, I am _robbing _you, I am _threatening _your _life_." The man was talking to Ed like he was a retarded frog-monkey.

Rae stepped off the side of the fire escape, caught herself with a hand on the bottom of the iron platform, and silently dropped to the ground a few feet behind the robber.

Ed pursed his lip in impatience.

"Just give me your money or I'll fucking shoot you okay?" The man twitched in aggravation. .

Ed sighed. "Oh alright". He fumbled around in his pocket before producing his wallet, which he thrust at the robber.

The filthy man then turned to run off down the street, but halted immediately. He had come face to the shining edge of Rae's blade.

The man gawked in disbelief.

"Drop. The gun." Rae said calmly, twitching her foot in anticipation.

The gun was dropped to the cement. The robber groaned. This was not how his night was supposed to be! Behind him, Ed grinned triumphantly.

"The wallet." Rae prompted.

The wallet landed on the alley floor next to the gun.

"Now run." She emphasized he order by grazing his throat with her sword.

The man sprinted away as if his ass were in a fire.

"Haha! Fucker!" Ed taunted as the man's figure disappeared.

Rae knelt and removed the clip from the gun. She then proceeded to tuck the gun into the back of her black jeans and slide the ammo into her pocket.

"What a dick." Ed complained, scooping up his wallet.

"Takes one to know one." Rae stated.

Ed smiled sardonically, and pulled out his cell phone. He dialed Rock's.

* * *

The bar was a dark place with low hanging lights were appeared dim through the clouds of cigarette smoke.

Rock's was bar bait. It was his job to look drunk and eyeball the place for a possible vampire. He took his job very seriously, so seriously that he was actually on his fourth beer. Not because he actually wanted to be an easy kill, but because he was bored, lonely and really had nothing else to do but sit there and drink.

In his pocket, his phone vibrated.

He pulled it out and flipped it open, "Talk to me." Was his lazy greeting.

"Nothing?" Ed asked, scuffing his shoe on pavement.

"Nada, man." Rock's replied, miserable. "Can we head home. Elle said she was making another cheesecake…"

* * *

"…" Ed Paused, lowered his phone and looked at Rae. "Elle's makin' cheesecake."

Rae put her sword back in it's holster. Her mind was made up. "Let's go home."

Ed lifted the phone back to his ear. "Meet you at the car."

Ed shut his phone, only to have it begin ringing in his palm. He could see the words 'Home' on his phone's screen.

Elle was calling him.

He immediately opened his phone and lifted the receiver to his ear.

"What's wrong?" He demanded.

"I don't have any makeup!" Elle screeched. He could hear her rummaging through things, opening drawers only to huff and slam them shut again. "I am nineteen years old, why don't I have any _makeup_?!"

"Ugh-" Ed didn't have time to articulate his confusion.

"It's just, it's ridiculous…" She slammed shut another drawer. "I'm going to the mall tomorrow! You're _taking _me to the mall."

"Ohhh…kay." Ed knew better than to argue with her when she was like this, though in complete honesty, he had never in his life heard her like this.

"I don't have any Bra's either! What is that about? They have this new one, I saw a commercial for it, it makes you an entire cup-size bigger--"

"Elle." Ed said her name in with absolute misery. "I don't have tit's, _I don't care_."

"Yea, but guys like big boobs don't they?" She asked, and he could have swore he heard paper towel crumpling in the background.

"Did you play with the chemicals under the sink or something?" Ed demanded.

He heard a knock in the background.

"Oh! They're here, you need to come home, they're here." Elle whispered into the phone anxiously.

"Who's there?" Ed's tone had become darker.

"Umm.."

"Elle. Who's there?!"

"King-"

"_What_!?" Ed had officially entered panic mode.

"And Kevin, and Abby… they umm, they were… their house was… attacked.." She said the word attacked so delicately. "I told them they could come stay here."

"You _what_?" Ed heard more knocking through the phone.

"I have to go. Come home soon, ok?" Elle hung up.

The dial tone assaulted his ear. His eyebrows shot up.

"She's lost her mind." Ed ranted, pulling his keys from his pocket. "She has lost her mind!"

* * *

Elle bounced up and down in an anxious panic. This action only messed her hair up and wrinkled her nightshirt… nightshirt! Pink nightshirt with little hearts on it!!! Suddenly she was horrified, she looked down, she was still in her nightshirt and shorts! She hadn't even changed her cloths!

"Hello!!!" She heard Abby yell from the other side of the door.

Elle's bare feet smacked onto the hardwood floor, she stopped bouncing.

She could do this, she could answer the door, it was no big deal. Why, hello King, yes… oh this, what I'm wearing, yea I usually wear a skimpy lace nighty, not this… why am I wearing this? Oh, it's laundry night, of course. He would never believe it.

Her shoulders slumped in defeat. She padded over to the door and opened it, she stared at the group of sweaty, panicked people on the other side. Her eyebrows furrowed, a displeased pout on her lips.

They were more surprised to see her than she was to see them.

"Come in." She pulled the door all the way open, and stepped aside.

Abby ushered Zoe and Dex in, Kevin and King followed,. Elle couldn't even bring herself to look up at King, she was too embarrassed. She chose to stare at her toes as she pushed the door shut and locked it.

After a minute she looked up and gave everyone a sad look.

"Are you hungry?" Elle might not have been able to answer the door looking like a super model, but she could at least feed them, and give them some pillows and blankets to sleep with.


End file.
